ASE to build smart manufacturing zone
ASE to build smart manufacturing zoneTHREESOME: The company also unveiled the world’s first smart factory using Qualcomm’s 5G mmWave technology, with Chunghwa Telecom providing supportBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporter, in KaohsiungASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控) yesterday said it is to invest NT$94 billion (US$3.3 billion) to develop a third smart manufacturing campus in Kaohsiung after rolling out the world’s first smart factory using Qualcomm Inc’s 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology. ASE operates 18 smart factories in Kaohsiung, making up 20 percent of the company’s total factories in the city, Wu said. It plans to add seven smart factories next year, bringing the total number to 25, he said. If the economic benefits of the 5G mmWave smart factory are verified, ASE does not rule out introducing the smart manufacturing system to its existing smart factories, Wu said. Qualcomm’s chips — including Snapdragon X55, Snapdragon QSM5165, Snapdragon XR2 and GZX5-AR — are used in devices such as augmented reality (AR) glasses to enable smart manufacturing applications at ASE’s fab.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Nan Shan, Gogoro team up on usage-based insurance
Nan Shan, Gogoro team up on usage-based insuranceSAFE RIDERS: The special vehicle insurance policy’s premium is determined by a rider’s behavior on the road, such as speed, distance, driving habitsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterNan Shan General Insurance Co (南山產險) yesterday launched the nation’s first usage-based insurance (UBI) policy in collaboration with Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), with the special policy expected to benefit safe riders. In the first stage, Nan Shan would adjust its premiums based on driving distance, with those covering more distance seeing higher premiums than those who ride less. “It is not our intention to punish dangerous riders, but to reward safe riders with lower insurance premiums,” Tsai and Peng said. CONSENTGogoro would not deliver a motorist’s data to Nan Shan without their consent, and all data would be delivered via blockchain technology to ease concerns over information security, they said. Nan Shan has not yet decided when to implement the second stage, as it needs to first build a consumer database and set up analysis models, Tsai said, adding that it would not take long.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Defense R&D to be promoted at universities
Defense R&D to be promoted at universitiesSETTING PRIORITIES: The program would target seven research areas, with the ministries of science and technology and defense splitting the costBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe government is to budget NT$5 billion (US$175.6 million) over the next five years to promote a program on the research and development (R&D) of defense technologies at local universities, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday. From left, Executive Yuan Office of Science and Technology Deputy Executive Secretary Andrew Yeh, Deputy Minister of National Defense Lee Tsung-hsiao, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong and others yesterday pose during a news conference announcing a joint defense technology research and development program between the two ministries and universities. Technologies related to artificial intelligence, 5G and even 6G communications, Internet of Things, as well as quantum computing, are key to defense technology development, Wu said, encouraging students to study in the related fields. The defense ministry has over the past two months met with faculty and students at National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University to promote defense technology, Deputy Minister of National Defense Vice Admiral Lee Tsung-hsiao (李宗孝) said. Many experts on defense technology have worked at the Chungshan institute, while students in the new program would also be able to seek employment in the private sector, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
US clears export of sonars for local subs
Sonar systems, diesel engines, torpedo and missile systems, and an integrated combat system have all been categorized as “red,” Chang said. Deputy Minister of National Defense Chang Che-ping answers questions at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. It is a significant platform for the government and the party’s support could prevent opposition lawmakers from freezing NT$5 billion (US$175.59 million) of the project’s budget, Tsai said. The ministry called for the public to support its budget proposal, citing the nation’s need for resolute defense capabilities. Cross-caucus negotiations on the submarine budget could take place next month, while the DPP caucus would not back cutting or freezing the proposed budget, said Lo, who is also director of the DPP’s international affairs department.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Industry leaders upbeat on tech demand outlook
Industry leaders upbeat on tech demand outlookBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterIndustry leaders attending the Taipei Computer Association’s (TCA, 台北市電腦公會) annual meeting yesterday said that they expect Taiwanese tech companies to see “continued demand” in the next three to six months. Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman and TCA honorary chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) said there was “no need to worry” about fluctuating orders for the next three to six months. “Overall, supply is outstripping demand,” Tung said. SHORTAGESGiven a shortage of semiconductors and tight supply of glass substates, flat panels for laptop computers are especially in short supply, Peng said. “We can only supply half of the demand for monitors for Chromebooks, which are in high demand due to distance learning,” he said, adding that the order visibility for AUO has extended into the first half of next year.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
DBS Bank provides aid for social enterprises
DBS Bank provides aid for social enterprisesStaff writerWith many businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic this year, DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has stepped up its support of social enterprises (SE) with a disbursement of loans and grants totaling S$9 million (US$6.74 million) to provide much needed assistance for social enterprises, it said, adding that it is committed to promoting the development of social enterprises. DBS also announced that 13 Asian social enterprises, including Taiwan-based Sense Innovation (森思眼動), Milk House (鮮乳坊) and Tsai Tung Agriculture (菜蟲農食), have been awarded grants and loans as part of the 2020 DBS Social Enterprise Grant Programme. According to Karen Ngui (魏洪英), DBS Foundation board member and head of group strategic marketing at DBS Bank, “companies must not only think about delivering value to shareholders, but also consider the interests of the communities they serve.”The DBS Bank logo is pictured in Taipei in an undated photograph. The DBS Foundation announced that it has awarded S$1.4 million in grants to 13 social enterprises throughout Asia in the 2020 cycle of its DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme. For more information about the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme, visit https://www.dbs.com/foundation/our-support/grant-programme.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Expected annual bonuses hit nine-year low: survey
Expected annual bonuses hit nine-year low: surveyLOW HOPES: Only 55.9 percent of employees surveyed expect year-end bonuses, down 67.8 percent annually and the lowest in the poll’s history, job bank yes123 saidStaff writer, with CNAEmployers expect to issue year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.11 months of wages on average, the lowest in nine years, amid the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey released on Monday showed. A second survey, also conducted from Nov. 25 to Wednesday last week by yes123, found that only 55.9 percent of employees polled expect to receive year-end bonuses, down sharply from 67.8 percent a year earlier. The logo and name of online job bank yes123 are pictured in Taipei in an undated photograph. Only 17.2 percent of those employees who expect to receive year-end bonuses said that the amount would increase from a year earlier. Taiwanese businesses tend to issue year-end bonuses as an incentive before the Lunar New Year holiday, which next year will be in mid-February.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: CECC reports 2 imported cases
Virus Outbreak: CECC reports 2 imported casesBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported two new imported cases of COVID-19, while it refused to confirm from which companies the government had purchased vaccines. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also CECC spokesman, said that the two new cases were migrant workers who had not reported any symptoms since arriving in Taiwan. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung talks to reporters about COVID-19 vaccines during a visit to Chiayi County yesterday. The other case is an Indonesian in his 30s who also arrived on Nov. 30 and provided a negative PCR test result. That brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Taiwan to 742, 650 of which were imported, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Farmer helps put Jhutang back on mushroom map
Farmer helps put Jhutang back on mushroom mapBy Chen Kuan-pei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerFarmer Lee Mei-ling (李美玲) has revived the mushroom industry in Changhua County’s Jhutang Township (竹塘) after adding modern facilities to her traditional mushroom farm. 1 producer of mushrooms until 20 years ago, when it fell behind other regions that were using improved techniques to grow larger mushrooms. Farmer Lee Mei-ling is pictured with some giant mushrooms at her farm in Jhutang Township, Changhua County, on Sunday. She started by renovating an old warehouse used for growing mushroom by installing air-conditioning and an environmental management system. “The characteristics of the land in Jhutang Township, as well as the wet conditions in winter, make it ideal for growing mushrooms,” Lee said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Kaohsiung, Taipei picked for Lantern Festival
Kaohsiung, Taipei picked for Lantern FestivalLIGHTS UP: A Tourism Bureau committee selected Kaohsiung to host the 2022 and Taipei the 2023 annual festival, which is one of the nation’s major tourism eventsBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Lantern Festival is to be held in Kaohsiung in 2022 and in Taipei in 2023, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. For the festival in 2023, which would be the Year of the Rabbit, the bureau had invited the governments of Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Yilan County to submit plans for the event. The last time that Taipei and Kaohsiung hosted the annual lantern festival was in 2000 and 2002 respectively. The bureau created the Taiwan Lantern Festival in 1990, which has since become one of the nation’s major tourism events. The festival was held in Taipei from 1990 to 2000, and in Kaohsiung in 2001 and 2002.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
TSMC says demand remains resilient
TSMC says demand remains resilientBATTLE OVER? Building higher inventory has “become a new norm for supply chains,” TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) told reporters on the sidelines of an international forum celebrating 40th anniversary of the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), when asked about growing concern among investors over inventory corrections. Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei TimesIt would not be appropriate to use the previous standard to gauge supply chain inventories, Liu said. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chairman Mark Liu speaks at a forum celebrating the Hsinchu Science Park’s 40th anniversary in Hsinchu yesterday. Tso said that the government should strive to solve two major issues that semiconductor firms operating fabs at the Hsinchu Science Park face: water shortages and high demand for electricity.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: CAL and EVA ‘ready’ to transport vaccines
Virus Outbreak: CAL and EVA ‘ready’ to transport vaccinesREADY FOR COLD: EVA said that it was confident it could handle Pfizer’s ultra-cold vaccines with its cold-chain delivery service, although foreign airlines might be usedBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterChina Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday said that they are ready and willing to transport COVID-19 vaccines, although they had not received assignments from the government. EVA said that it did not receive an assignment from the CECC, but it has told the Civil Aeronautics Administration that it would be happy to provide a door-to-door vaccine delivery service. Photo: Bloomberg“We are confident that we can handle Pfizer’s ultra-cold vaccines with our cold-chain delivery service,” EVA said in a statement. Several freight forwarders have approached CAL to discuss transportation of vaccines and the negotiations are still ongoing, it said in a statement. CAL has not received an assignment from the government, but it is confident about its temperature-controlled delivery service launched in 2013, the airline said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Hospital acclaimed for gastric cancer screening program
Hospital acclaimed for gastric cancer screening programMATSU SUCCESS: ‘Gut,’ a leading medical journal, used images of Taiwan on the front cover of its issue this month to highlight the contributions of NTUHBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterA gastric cancer screening and treatment program by National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) in Matsu has successfully reduced the gastric cancer incidence rate in the archipelago by 53 percent in 14 years. Gastric cancer is the fifth-most common cancer and the third-biggest cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has predicted that the number of gastric cancer patients would continue to grow in the next 30 years due to the aging population. NTUH superintendent Wu Ming-shiang (吳明賢) said that the hospital last year held a global consensus meeting on H. pylori screening and gastric cancer prevention, and participants produced 26 guidelines for gastric cancer prevention based on the scientific evidence from the hospital’s study in Matsu. People 50 years or older with a family history of gastric cancer should undergo an H. pylori screening with their regular gastroscopy, Liou said, adding that eradicating H. pylori infection can prevent gastric cancer.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
A taste of Taiwan’s dark tourism
A locked prison gate inside the Eight-Sided Building at Oasis Village on Green Island, Taitung County. DARK TOURISMA view of the Eight-Sided Building (watching four corridors) in Oasis Village on Taitung County’s Green Island. Photo: Noah Buchan, Taipei TimesTwo decades later, Green Island White Terror Memorial Park (白色恐怖綠島紀念園區) opened the doors to a dark chapter in Taiwan’s authoritarian past. PENAL COLONYA mural of a Republic of China (ROC) soldier fades on a wall topped with razor wire in Oasis Village. It features the engraved names of political prisoners and the dates that the victim was executed or to the years of imprisonment.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan contributing to education on Holocaust
Taiwan contributing to education on HolocaustBy Lu Yi-hsuan and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan on Monday promised to donate 1.5 million Polish zloty (US$409,931) to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation to promote education programs about the history of the former Nazi concentration camp. Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei TimesThe nation “stands ready to join global donors in supporting the foundation’s effort to perpetuate the Holocaust sites as the foundation for education and awareness for future generations,” he said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter that it is proud to witness the signing, as the nation is working to bolster its education, remembrance and research on the Holocaust. The participation of people “from the Far East” is evidence that “Auschwitz, as a symbol, has a global meaning,” Cywinski said. The foundation’s activities are made possible by its constantly expanding coalition of global partners, Soczewica said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2020 15:56 UTC